Dream Magic Read Free

would manage to reach the spot, usually atop a mountain of bald stone or glimmering in the burnt bowels of a lightning-blasted tree. There were stories of pots of gold that were found on these rare occasions, or magical gifts, or smiling, accommodating maidens.
    But there were other stories as well. Stories of strife and terror. The trouble was that there were two ends to every rainbow. One of them glimmered and shifted over a beautiful bounty—but the other invariably bathed a horror of some kind with its eldritch light.
    When following a rainbow to its foot, there was no way to know in advance what you might find when you reached it: beauty or horror, pleasure or pain.
    Trev stood staring up into the sky, transfixed. The sun was shining, but rainclouds rumbled to the North. He could tell the rainbow was quite close—perhaps within the reach of someone who was swift of foot.
    Something took hold of his mind then. He hadn’t planned to make the attempt, but when he saw the curve of it and guessed the western end was closer than the eastern…he could not stop himself. He sprang into a loping run and vanished under the treetops.
    Every hundred paces, he glanced up into the sky to see if it was still there. Sometimes, his view was blocked and he despaired, but after another hundred paces, he found it again, corrected his bounding course, and set off with renewed vigor.
    As he ran, he accounted his chances as very good of reaching the foot of it. The apparition seemed fresh, and the light rain and sun continued unabated. Conditions were perfect, and among all the boys of the Haven, he was quite possibly the fleetest of foot.
    And so he ran and ran carelessly, grinning and full of life. It was a challenge to him, that was all. An adventure. A story to be told later and a good time to be had now. He never concerned himself with what he would find; the fun was in the seeking. He’d never much wanted gold or to see something frightening. What he wanted was to do something today which no man of the River Haven had had the courage to do for long centuries.
    He came to a st ream and skipped over it, stone-by-stone, never letting his toes get wet. This stream was the border between the Haven Wood and the Deepwood. As such, it marked a passing point from an area of relative safety to a darker, denser forest that was known to harbor dangerous creatures.
    After a few more minutes of running, he found himself in a thicket of fir trees. They scratched at him with claw-like branches.  Breaking free of the firs, h e rounded a great pine trunk to find it had a fallen twin. He bounded over the log in a single tremendous leap. He was grinning broadly, but his expression faded when he next gazed up and saw the sky was darkening overhead, turning to an iron gray.
    “No!” he shouted, knowing this could be the end of his adventure. Rainbows required light and rain together. If either the sunshine or the storm clouds won the contest completely, the rainbow would be snuffed out and vanish forever.
    Trev had only one recourse: he ran faster. The wind roared in his ears and his silver locks flashed and bounced on his shoulders. He all but flew now, taking huge strides that would require any normal man three steps to make. He didn’t bother pausing periodically to look up for the rainbow.  It was either there, or it wasn’t. To shift his concentration away from his running while moving at top speed might mean disaster. He had to twist, turn and duck around each tree trunk like an eagle soaring between branches. He knew he had to be close to the foot of it, and figured that he’d soon know the truth of the matter.
    His first inkling came when the land around him turned a deep lavender. A moment later it became blue, then a blinding green. He staggered and stopped, looking around. He’d found it. This was the terminus, the end of the rainbow. All around him, the earth and trees were painted with the deepest, purest colors he’d ever seen.
    His